Victims of Saddam-era poison gas attack on Kurds demand French investigation into suppliers

PARIS – Twenty victims of Saddam Hussein's 1988 chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja are demanding a French judicial investigation of the companies that supplied the materials.

Halabja marked the deadliest chemical weapons attack against civilians. Saddam suspected the non-Arab Kurds of siding with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. Up to 5,000 people died in the March 1988 attack.

Gavriel Mairone, a lawyer for the group, says the victims continue to suffer health problems and are demanding that the companies that knowingly supplied Saddam with the raw materials and equipment needed for chemical weapons take responsibility. Among other things, the victims want a health clinic and advanced medical care, he said.

Mairone said he expects to file additional cases in Germany, the U.S., Holland and potentially elsewhere.